Unable to get NC510 card to work

[CCW_NS]

I've got a DL385G2, running SLES10 64-bit. I've installed an NC510 card.

I've downloaded the nx_tools package and updated the firmware. I've downloaded and installed the latest netxen driver. (Both from HPs site).

1) If I ammend the /etc/modprobe.conf.local as per the docs, I get errors in /var/log/messages telling me my entry is invalid and will be ignored.

2) The driver won't load. If I do a "modprobe nx_nic" the modprobe line hangs. In /var/adm/messages I get:

Sep 21 11:59:18 hq-hls3 kernel: nx_nic: module not supported by Novell, setting U taint flag.
Sep 21 11:59:18 hq-hls3 kernel: HP Network Driver version 3.4.114-3981 generated Sat Jul 7 13:39:59 PDT 2007 by build:build
Sep 21 11:59:18 hq-hls3 kernel: ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:08:00.0[A] -> GSI 38 (level, low) -> IRQ 177
Sep 21 11:59:18 hq-hls3 kernel: PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:08:00.0 to 64
Sep 21 11:59:18 hq-hls3 kernel: Maximum Rx Descriptor count: 32768
Sep 21 11:59:18 hq-hls3 kernel: Maximum Tx Descriptor count: 1024
Sep 21 11:59:18 hq-hls3 kernel: Maximum Jumbo Descriptor count: 1024
Sep 21 11:59:18 hq-hls3 kernel: Maximum LRO Descriptor count: 64
Sep 21 11:59:18 hq-hls3 kernel: NetXen: read 0x55555555 for init reg.
Sep 21 11:59:18 hq-hls3 kernel: NetXen: read 0x0080000f for reset reg.
Sep 21 11:59:18 hq-hls3 kernel: State: 0x55555555
Sep 21 11:59:23 hq-hls3 kernel: phantom_init: Got a signal, exiting
Sep 21 11:59:23 hq-hls3 kernel: phantom_init: val=0x55555555, pegtune_val=0x1
Sep 21 11:59:23 hq-hls3 kernel: nx_nic: XGbE board initialized
Sep 21 11:59:23 hq-hls3 ifup: eth2 device: NetXen Ethernet NXB-10GCX4 10 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe Adapter with CX4 copper interface (rev 25)
Sep 21 11:59:23 hq-hls3 ifup: No configuration found for eth2

I can then CTRL-C the modprobe and ifconfig reports the new interface. Trying to do "ifconfig eth2 up" takes time and eventually reports "SIOCSIFFLAGS: Input/output error" and I get the following in /var/adm/messages

Sep 21 11:59:59 hq-hls3 kernel: Cmd Peg initialization not complete:55555555.
Sep 21 11:59:59 hq-hls3 kernel: Failed to init firmware

How can I get this card to work in SLES10 ?

Thanks.

[TY 007]

Hello,

>> downloaded the nx_tools package and updated the firmware

Is it "HP NC-Series NetXen NIC Firmware" version 3.4.114-13 (2 Aug 07)?:
http://h18023.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/download/27766.html

Thanks

[TY 007]

Hello,

>> got a DL385G2, running SLES10 64-bit

Is SLES10 (64-bit) & not SLES10 SP1 (64-bit)?

Have seen working setup in SLES10 before.

Any tests with SLES10 (32-bit) as well?

Thanks

[CCW_NS]

This is SLES10 SP1, 64 bit.

Never tried 32 bit.

[rick jones]

what do the diagnostics (should be in the same place as the firmware update tool) say about the NIC(s)?

also, after you rebooted, does ethtool -i confirm the firmware update?

[TY 007]

Hello,

>> This is SLES10 SP1, 64 bit
>> Never tried 32 bit

Try 1: SLES10 (SP0), 64 bit

Try 2: SLES10 SP1, 32 bit

The Driver Download Site seems do not indicate any support for SP1 yet :)

Thanks

[James Shumpert]

I am experiencing the exact same problem with the NC510C, but different OS. I purchased 6 DL385 G2 servers and loaded Red Hat Enterprise 4 Update 5 on AMD64. All 6 have the NC510C card. 5 installs went fine, but the 6th one is hanging this same way. I have swapped the card, swapped the server, rebuilt RHEL from scratch. Still local to this one install. If I remove the rpm and reboot the server it's fine. As soon as it modprobes this nx_nic driver on this 1 server, it hangs the modprobe. If I Control-C the modprobe, sometimes the card comes online, but when I reboot it hangs during network initialization.

I have upgraded the firmware to the latest and built the driver exactly the same way on all 6. All 6 have an identical software load.

Any suggestions? Could it be a BIOS setting that causes this problem? How do I diagnose it now? Does the nx_nic kernel module log debug stuff anywhere? Thanks in advance! -jim

[TY 007]

Hello,

>> Red Hat Enterprise 4 Update 5 on AMD64
>> All 6 have the NC510C card

Log a Support Ticket with HP to check whether the HP NC-Series NetXen Driver for Linux is supported to run in RHEL4 Update 5 OS.

For sure, is supports SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

Thanks